10 Ways to Make Extra Money as a College Student

10 Ways to Make Extra Money as a College Student

This post was written by Blake Moffat, a student studying business and law. Blake also works as a member of the online community team at MoneyBuddy.

Freelance

Like the idea of working, but don’t like the idea of being tied down to one job for months and months? If so, freelance work is a great option for you. Unlike traditional jobs, where you get paid by the hour, you would be getting paid for what you actually produce.

Some examples of freelance jobs would be: designing a logo, writing an article, or providing photography services for a wedding. If you think this is the right fit for you, then check out oDesk, a site that matches freelancers with people who need work done.

Random Jobs

Luckily for you, there are a lot of lazy people. There are also a lot of workers who are too busy to do meaningless tasks and would rather pay someone else to do them.

Well get excited because that someone else could be you! That’s right, you could be getting paid to iron clothes or assemble flat-pack furniture. You find jobs and get paid the same way freelancers would, as there are sites such as TaskRabbit out there made specifically for this. Or if you wanted to kick it old school, you could find jobs by going door to door.

Make Stuff

Fancy yourself a regular Martha Stewart? Well there is a lot of money to be made creating small, handmade items. If you know your way around a toolbox, create some radical wooden birdfeeders. If you can sew, create some cute kids’ clothes and sell them at the local flea market.

Selling at public markets will yield higher returns than selling online, as there is less competition. The cost of renting a stall is usually low or even free. However, if you would prefer to sell online, Etsy is a great site made especially for selling small, handmade items.

This is a great way to make extra money while doing something that you love.

Sell Stuff

Set yourself up on eBay or Craigslist and make some extra cash by selling your unwanted items. Sometimes it’s hard to sell your most cherished possessions or even find anything you have that would be worth selling.

In that case, you could find friends or family who have items that they don’t want anymore. Consider offering to sell these items for them and take a cut of the proceeds.

Mystery Shopping

Yep, you can actually go shopping and get paid for it! When you get an assignment to shop at a particular store, all you have to do is take note of certain things when you go shopping and report your experience to your employer. You’ll be listened to and never argued with because the customer is always right — right?

Take Part in Studies

Taking part in paid studies is an easy way to make money. Not only will your dreams of being studied come true, but you may also receive benefits beyond just getting paid.

Say a drug company needs people to test out an experimental new anti-flatulence drug. Imagine if it worked! Now you no longer having to suppress that mid-class gas.

But because you got paid, any negative side effects are excusable.

Become a YouTube Sensation

Anything new, weird, or unusual will usually succeed on YouTube. But if you consider yourself sophisticated, then good, quality videos also become popular.

The more views your video gets, the more you get paid. So once you’ve created and uploaded your masterpiece, you can sit back and relax. If a dancing Korean guy can do it, so can you.

And don’t worry, you don’t always need friends to make it big on YouTube — some of the biggest viral videos are of babies biting fingers or unique marriage proposals.

Become a Blogger

Consider yourself a yo-yo dieter who likes giving away cars? Do you have a smooth Texas accent and a manly mustache? Perhaps you’re hilarious and like to dance a lot?

If you have any or all of these attributes then chances are a lot of people are going to want to hear, or in this case read, what you have to say. The best way to do this is to get yourself a daytime show on a major network. But if that seems like too much effort, or just not your “scene,” then start an online blog using WordPress or Blogger.

You can say what you want, and if people are interested in your views, you could end up with a lot of readers. You’ll soon be on your way to making cold hard cash by selling ads or suggesting products to your readers — all from the comfort of your dorm room.

Design T-Shirts

Creating pictures and slogans to be used on t-shirts has been a very popular way for people to make money online. By getting it right and producing a great design, you could make a small fortune. Most of the companies that offer this service give the designer a percentage of the income they make from selling their designs.

You don’t even have to manufacture the shirts, simply upload your design to sites such as Threadless or Spreadshirt, and the rest is done for you!

Give Music Lessons/Perform

Music is what makes the world go round. This is why there is so much money to be made from knowing how to play an instrument. Sure you love playing your Theremin just for the pure joy of it, but did you know there might be thousands of people out there who are begging for Theremin lessons? Giving lessons to other music lovers is one way to make extra money while doing something you love.

The other avenue to go down is joining a band or even starting out as a solo act. If you’re good, you’ll get gigs — which usually pay quite well. Plus, you become even better at performing from all the practice. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up being the next big thing. But for now, teaching and performing locally would be a great idea to make money while you’re studying. Check out ReverbNation to find gigs and venues that need performers.

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